Methods for the analysis of proximity binding assay data

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments of methods for analyzing proximity binding assay (PBA) data are disclosed. Proximity binding assays as a class of analyses offer the advantages of the sensitivity and specificity of biorecognition binding, along with the exponential signal amplification offered by a variety of oligonucleotide amplification reactions, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). However, as various proximity binding assays have reaction kinetics governed by an additional step of the binding of a biorecognition probe (BRP) with a target molecule, there is a need for methods for the analysis of PBA data that are particularly suited to the unique characteristics of such data.

FIELD

The field of disclosure of relates to methods for analyzing proximitybinding assay (PBA) data, which overcome the shortcomings of traditionalmethods for the analysis of amplification data for oligonucleotides forsuch assays.

BACKGROUND

For numerous types of bioanalysis, the sensitive quantitation of abiomolecule at low levels in a sample is highly desirable. For example,it may be desirable to monitor the dynamic expression levels of anintact, post-translationally modified protein in a particular cell ortissue sample or samples. In many cases, the amount of sample ofinterest; for example, the number of cells or mass of tissue, may bevery small. Additionally, the number of copies of the target protein ofinterest may be very low. In such cases, it may be desirable to assay aprotein concentration in sub-femtormole concentrations.

Currently, proximity binding assays as a class of analyses offer theadvantages of the sensitivity and specificity of biorecognition binding,along with the exponential signal amplification offered by a variety ofoligonucleotide amplification reactions, such as the polymerase chainreaction (PCR).

However, the combination of a binding event, followed by anoligonucleotide amplification reaction event produces data withcharacteristics requiring specialized analysis methods. Such methodsshould be readily adapted to the broad class of proximity bindingassays, and should provide the user with results presented in readilyuseful form and format. Accordingly, there is a need in the art formethods for the analysis of proximity binding assay (PBA) data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart that depicts various embodiments of methods forthe analysis of proximity binding assay (PBA) data.

FIG. 2A-FIG. 2D depict various embodiments of a proximity binding assay.

FIG. 3 depicts various embodiments of an apparatus useful in thegeneration of PBA data.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system accordingto various embodiments upon which embodiments of methods for theanalysis of PBA data may be implemented.

FIG. 5 depicts exemplary graphs of Ct values as a function of log ofquantity of test sample for an exemplary proximity binding assay.

FIG. 6 depicts the exemplary graphs of FIG. 5 that have been correctedfor background according to various embodiments of methods for theanalysis of PBA data.

FIG. 7 depicts various embodiments of a method for the determination ofa linear range of a graph.

FIG. 8 depicts the exemplary graphs of FIG. 6 for which the linearranges of the graphs have been determined.

FIG. 9 depicts the exemplary graphs of FIG. 8 in which a threshold valuehas been selected.

FIG. 10 depicts the exemplary graphs of FIG. 9 indicating the x valuewhere y is the threshold value.

FIG. 11 depicts a validation study of the exemplary proximity bindingassay of FIG. 5 according to various embodiments of a method for theanalysis of PBA data.

FIG. 12 depicts a presentation of data for the exemplary proximitybinding assay of FIG. 5 according to various embodiments of methods forthe analysis of PBA data.

FIG. 13 is in reference to the determination of a confidence intervalfor a sample quantity as determined according to various methods for theanalysis of PBA data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

What is disclosed herein are various embodiments of methods foranalyzing proximity binding assay (PBA) data. Proximity binding assaysas a class of analyses offer the advantages of the sensitivity andspecificity of biorecognition binding, along with the exponential signalamplification offered by a variety of oligonucleotide amplificationreactions, such as, but not limited by, the polymerase chain reaction(PCR). However, unlike the class of oligonucleotide amplificationreactions, the class of proximity binding assays has reaction kineticsgoverned by an additional step of the binding of a biorecognition probe(BRP) with a target molecule, as well be discussed in more detailsubsequently. Accordingly, various embodiments of proximity bindingassays may require methods for the analysis of PBA data that areparticularly suited to the unique characteristics of such data.

Various embodiments of methods for the analysis of PBA data may beperformed using various embodiments of method 100 of FIG. 1. As depictedin FIG. 2A-FIG. 2C, proximity binding assays may be characterized by abiorecognition binding event, as depicted in FIG. 2A, in which abiorecognition probe (BRP) binds to a target biomolecule. Forbioanalysis, examples of biorecognition binding may include, but are notlimited by oligonucleotide-oligonucleotide, protein-protein,ligand-receptor, antigen-antibody, lectin-polysaccharide,aptamer-protein, enzyme-substrate, and cofactor-protein. According tovarious embodiments of proximity binding assays, a BRP may enable signalamplification in order to provide for the detection of the targetmolecule.

In FIG. 2A-FIG. 2D, various embodiments of BRPs modified witholigonucleotide sequences are shown. According to various embodiments,as shown in FIG. 2A, BRPs may be prepared so that strands in proximityto one another after the binding of the BRPs to a target are of oppositeorientation. For various embodiments of BRPs, as shown in FIG. 2B, onepopulation of BRP may have 3′ strands of an oligonucleotide sequencecoupled to it, while a second population of BRP may have 5′ strands ofan oligonucleotide sequences coupled to it, so that the strands inproximity to one another after binding are of the same orientation. Forvarious embodiments of a PBA as shown in FIG. 2A, the BRPs may bedesigned so that at least the free distal end sequences arecomplementary, so that the binding of complementary sequences produces atarget for extension, as shown in FIG. 2C. For various embodiments ofproximity binding assays, with the addition of a splint oligonucleotidein the presence of a ligase enzyme, the proximal 3′ and 5′ ends may beligated, as shown in FIG. 2D, forming a targets for ligation. For eitherexample, as depicted in FIG. 2C and FIG. 2D, after a target foramplification is formed, and with the addition of amplification reactioncomponents, followed by thermocycling in a thermal cycling system,sequence detection data may be generated. Other methods for detectingoligonucleotides brought into proximity for various embodiments ofproximity binding assays include, for example, but not limited by,restriction digestion, and polymerase extension.

According to various embodiments, the term. “amplifying”.“amplification” and related terms may refer to any process thatincreases the amount of a desired nucleic acid. Any of a variety ofknown amplification procedures may be employed in the present teachings,including PCR (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,202), as well as anyof a variety of ligation-mediated approaches, including LOR and LCR (seefor example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,494,810, 5,830,711, 6,054,564). Some otheramplification procedures include isothermal approaches such as rollingcircle amplification and helicase-dependant amplification. One of skillin art will readily appreciate a variety of possible amplificationprocedures applicable in the context of the present teachings. Forexample, in some embodiments, the amplification may comprise a PCRcomprising a real-time detection, using for example a labeling probe.

The term “labeling probe” generally, according to various embodiments,refers to a molecule used in an amplification reaction, typically forquantitative or real-time PCR analysis, as well as end-point analysis.Such labeling probes may be used to monitor the amplification of thetarget polynucleotide. In some embodiments, oligonucleotide probespresent in an amplification reaction are suitable for monitoring theamount of amplicon(s) produced as a function of time. Sucholigonucleotide probes include, but are not limited to, the5′-exonuclease assay TaqMan® probes described herein (see also U.S. Pat.No. 5,538,848), various stem-loop molecular beacons (see e.g., U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,103,476 and 5,925,517 and Tyagi and Kramer, 1996, NatureBiotechnology 14:303-308), stemless or linear beacons (see, e.g., WO99/21881), PNA Molecular Beacons™ (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,355,421and 6,593,091), linear PNA beacons (see, e.g., Kubista et al., 2001,SPIE 4264:53-58), non-FRET probes (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,097),Sunrise®/Amplifluor® probes (U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,250), stem-loop andduplex Scorpion™ probes (Solinas et al., 2001. Nucleic Acids Research29:E96 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,689,743), bulge loop probes (U.S. Pat. No.6,590,091), pseudo knot probes (U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,250), cyclicons(U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,752), MOB Eclipse™ probe (Epoch Biosciences),hairpin probes (U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,490), peptide nucleic acid (PNA)light-up probes, self-assembled nanoparticle probes, andferrocene-modified probes described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.6,485,901; Mhlanga et al., 2001, Methods 26:463-471; Whitcombe et al.,1999. Nature Biotechnology, 17:804-807; Iaaceson et al., 2000, MolecularCell Probes, 14:321-328; Svanvik et al., 2000, Anal Biochem. 281:26-35;Wolffs et al., 2001, Biotechniques 766:769-771; Tsourkas et al., 2002,Nucleic Acids Research, 30:4208.4215; Riccelli et al., 2002. NucleicAcids Research 30:4088-4093; Zhang et al., 2002 Shanghai, 34:329-332;Maxwell et al., 2002, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124:9606-9612; Broude et al.,2002, Trends Biotechnol. 20:249-56; Huang et al., 2002, Chem Res.Toxicol. 15:118-126; and Yu et al., 2001, J. Am. Chem. Soc14:11155.11161. Labeling probes can also comprise black hole quenchers(Biosearch), Iowa Black (IDT), QSY quencher (Molecular Probes), andDabsyl and Dabcel sulfonate/carboxylate Quenchers (Epoch). Labelingprobes can also comprise two probes, wherein for example a fluorophoreis on one probe, and a quencher on the other, wherein hybridization ofthe two probes together on a target quenches the signal, or whereinhybridization on target alters the signal signature via a change influorescence. Labeling probes can also comprise sulfonate derivatives offluorescenin dyes with a sulfonic acid group instead of the carboxylategroup, phosphoramidite forms of fluorescein, phosphoramidite forms of CY5 (available for example from Amersham). In some embodiments,interchelating labels are used such as ethidium bromide, SYBR® Green I(Molecular Probes), and PicoGreen® (Molecular Probes), thereby allowingvisualization in real-time, or end point, of an amplification product inthe absence of a labeling probe.

According to various embodiments of proximity binding assays, the targetmay be a protein. For various embodiments of a proximity binding assayfor proteins, a BRP may be directed to a polypeptide primary, secondary,or tertiary structure, such as an aptamer or antibody, or may bedirected to a group such as any of a variety of chemical resulting fromthe in vivo or in vitro modification of a polypeptide structure.

According to various embodiments of a thermal cycler instrument 300, asshown in FIG. 3, a thermal cycling instrument may include a heated cover314 that is placed over a plurality of samples 810 contained in a samplesupport device. In various embodiments, a sample support device may be aglass or plastic substrate material having a plurality of sampleregions, which sample regions may have a cover between the sampleregions and heated cover 314. Some examples of a sample support devicemay include, but are not limited by, sample tubes or vials, a multi-wellplate, such as a standard microtiter plate (i.e. for example, but notlimited by, a 96-well, a 384-well plate, 1536-well plate, etc), amicrocard, or a substantially planar support, such as a glass or plasticslide. The sample regions in various embodiments of a sample supportdevice may include depressions, indentations, ridges, and combinationsthereof, patterned in regular or irregular arrays formed on the surfaceof the substrate. Various embodiments of a thermal cycler instrument 800may include a thermal block assembly, which may include a sample block318, as well as elements for heating and cooling 320, and a heatexchanger 322.

Additionally, various embodiments of a thermal cycling system 800 mayhave a detection system. A detection system may have an illuminationsource that emits electromagnetic energy (not shown), a detector orimager 810, for receiving electromagnetic energy from samples 316 insample support device, and optics 312, which may be located between theillumination source and detector or imager 810. For various embodimentsof a thermal cycler instrument 300, a control system 824 may be used tocontrol, for example, but not limited by, the functions of thedetection, heated cover, and thermal block assembly. The control system324 may be accessible to an end user through user interface 326 of athermal cycler instrument 300. In addition to a user interface system826, a computer system 500, as depicted in FIG. 4 may serve as toprovide control of various functions of a thermal cycler instrument.Additionally, computer system 500 may provide data processing, displayand report preparation functions. All such instrument control functionsmay be dedicated locally to the thermal cycler instrument, or computersystem 500 may provide remote control of part or all of the control,analysis, and reporting functions, as will be discussed in more detailsubsequently.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 500,according to various embodiments, upon which embodiments of methods forthe analysis of PBA data may be implemented. Computer system 500includes a bus 602 or other communication mechanism for communicatinginformation, and a processor 504 coupled with bus 502 for processinginformation. Computer system 500 also includes a memory 506, which canbe a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupledto bus 502, and instructions to be executed by processor 504. Memory 506also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions to be executed by processor504. Computer system 500 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 508or other static storage device coupled to bus 502 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processor 504. A storage device 610,such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus02 for storing information and instructions.

Computer system 500 may be coupled via bus 502 to a display 512, such asa cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD), for displayinginformation to a computer user. An input device 514, includingalphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus 502 for communicatinginformation and command selections to processor 504. Another type ofuser input device is cursor control 5186, such as a mouse, a trackballor cursor direction keys for communicating direction information andcommand selections to processor 504 and for controlling cursor movementon display 512. This input device typically has two degrees of freedomin two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), thatallows the device to specify positions in a plane. A computer system 600may provide the determination of a result for a set of sample data, anda level of confidence for a result. Consistent with certainimplementations of the invention, such results and confidence values areprovided by computer system 500 in response to processor 504 executingone or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in memory506. Such instructions may be read into memory 506 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as storage device 610. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in memory 506 causes processor 504to perform the process states described herein. Alternatively hard-wiredcircuitry may be used in place of or in combination with softwareinstructions to implement the invention. Thus implementations of theinvention are not limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and software.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediathat participates in providing instructions to processor 504 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks,such as storage device 610. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, suchas memory 506. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire,and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 502.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves,such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red datacommunications.

Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magneticmedium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, PROM, and EPROM, aFLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave asdescribed hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer canread.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 504 forexecution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried onmagnetic disk of a remote computer. The remote computer can load theinstructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over atelephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 500 canreceive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitterto convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detectorcoupled to bus 502 can receive the data carried in the infra-red signaland place the data on bus 502. Bus 502 carries the data to memory 606,from which processor 604 retrieves and executes the instructions. Theinstructions received by memory 506 may optionally be stored on storagedevice 510 either before or after execution by processor 504.

Further, it should be appreciated that a computer 500 may be embodied inany of a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally, acomputer may be embedded in a device not generally regarded as acomputer but with suitable processing capabilities, including a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable orfixed electronic device.

In various embodiments of steps 10 and 20 of method 100 of FIG. 1, forvarious embodiments of PBA data for protein analysis, test, referenceand negative control samples may be run, and the data may be collectedand analyzed using computer system 500. For example, according tovarious embodiments of a proximity binding assay, an end user may wishto assess the up or down regulation of a protein or proteins in a cellline. For various embodiments of such assays, test samples of a cellline subjected to various conditions may be run. For various embodimentsof bioanalyses assessing the up or down regulation of a protein orproteins in a cell line, the determination may be relative quantitation(RQ), in which a reference may be a cell line control may have a targetprotein or proteins in a defined state. For various embodiments ofbioanalyses assessing the up or down regulation of a protein or proteinsin a cell line, the determination may be quantitative, in which areference is a set of calibrators of known concentration.

For various embodiments of proximity binding assays utilizing ligatedamplicons, as shown for FIG. 2, there is a finite probability thatamplicon formation may occur in the absence of target, creatingbackground signal thereby. Additionally, for various embodiments ofBRPs, binding may be influenced by variables in a reaction matrix. Forexample, antigen-antibody binding is known to be influenced by suchmatrix effects. For at least these reasons, for various embodiments ofmethods for the analysis of PBA data, as indicated in step 20 of method100 of FIG. 1, a negative control may be run, in which a target moleculeis absent, and the control is designed to compensate for background andmatrix effects. According to various embodiments of method 100, theprotocols for generating data for test, reference, and negative controlsamples are not constrained with respect to the manner in which the datamay be generated. For example, but not limited by, for variousembodiments, samples as indicated in steps 10 and 20 of method 100 maybe run in the same run on the same instrument on the same day, while forother embodiments of method 100, test, reference, and negative controlsamples may be run on different days and on different instruments.

According to various embodiments of methods for the analysis of PBAdata, as depicted in step 30 of method 100 of FIG. 1, the determinationof threshold cycle or Ct may be done. As one of ordinary skill in theart is apprised, the Ct is the cycle number for an oligonucleotideamplification reaction at which the fluorescence generated for a sampleexceeds a defined threshold. The threshold cycle, then, is defined asthe cycle number of an oligonucleotide amplification reaction at which asufficient number of amplicons have accumulated to provide foranalytical detection above noise. According to various embodiments ofstep 30 of method 100, a variety of approaches may be taken to determinea Ct value. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,237 to Woo et al. disclosesvarious embodiments for automatic threshold setting for oligonucleotideamplification reactions, and is incorporated in its entirety byreference herein.

In FIG. 5, a plot of the Ct values as a function of sample quantity forPBA data generated for the analysis of the protein OCT3/4 in a NTERA-2cell line is shown. According to various embodiments, a sample quantitymay be, for example, but not limited by, the number of cells or theconcentration of a biomolecule. For each graph shown in FIG. 5, eachpoint represents a serial dilution of an NTERA-2 cell sample taken foranalysis. As previously mentioned, for various embodiments of methodsfor the analysis of PBA data, a proximity binding assay in whicholigonucleotide-labeled BRP, as shown in FIG. 2, is a monoclonal orpolyclonal antibody may be used. The exemplary PBA data shown wasgenerated with an embodiment of a proximity binding assay utilizing anantibody-based BRP and qPCR analysis using TaqMan® PCR reagents

In various embodiments of methods for the analysis of PBA data, asindicated in step 40 of method 100 of FIG. 1, the average Ct value forthe non-protein control (NPC) samples or background samples associatedwith a particular set of samples may be subtracted from the average Ctvalues for each data point in the dilution series for each sample. Anexample of the background corrected Ct (bcCt) values for each data pointfor each curve for the OCT3/4 protein in the NTERA-2 cells is shown inFIG. 6. As one of ordinary skill in the art of oligonucleotide analysisby PCR is apprised, the graphs for the data presented are normally ofparallel orientation for the linear phase of an amplification reaction.As can be clearly seen in FIG. 6, the PBA data for this exemplaryanalysis of OCT3/4 in NTERA cells is atypical of such amplificationdata. In that regard, various embodiments of analysis of PBA dataspecifically address the atypical nature of data generated for suchanalyses.

According to various embodiments of methods for the analysis of PBAdata, as indicated in step 50 of method 100 of FIG. 1, the linear rangeof the relationship between the background corrected Ct (bcCt) valuesand the sample quantity, for example, but not limited by, the number ofcells or the concentration of a biomolecule, may then be determined.Various embodiments of methods for the analysis of PBA data may bedescribed by the following formula:

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 2}}}{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 1}}} = b^{\lbrack{{({{\hat{B}}_{s\; 2} - {{bcCt}_{th}/{\hat{A}}_{s\; 2}}})} - {({{\hat{B}}_{s\; 1} - {{bcCt}_{th}/{\hat{A}}_{s\; 1}}})}}\rbrack}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 1}\end{matrix}$

Where:

${\frac{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 2}}}{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 1}}} = {Concentration}},$

ρ, of a protein, p, in samples, s2 and s1:

-   -   b=base of the exponential increase in signal amplification    -   Âs, {circumflex over (B)}s=The slope and intercept of linear        portion of a plot of bcCt v. log₁₀ Q_(s) and    -   bcCt_(th)=a bcCt value calculated from a selected threshold for        a plot of bcCt v. log₁₀ Q_(s).

As will be discussed in more detail subsequently, a simplifiedexpression may be given as:

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 2}}}{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 1}}} = b^{\lbrack{({X_{1} - X_{2}}\rbrack}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

-   -   Where:

${\frac{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 2}}}{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 1}}} = {Concentration}},$

-   -   ρ, of a protein, p, in samples, s2 and s1;    -   b=base of the exponential increase in signal amplification    -   s1=is a reference sample    -   s2=is a test sample    -   X₁=is the input quantity at which the regression line of the        reference sample intersects the selected threshold    -   X₂=is the input quantity at which the regression line of the        test sample intersects the selected threshold

For various embodiments of step 50 of method 100 of FIG. 1, the linearrange may be determined as depicted in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, depicts asigmoidally shaped curve, representing an idealized behavior for variousembodiments of PBA data. Various data points for the log of the inputquantity of a sample Q_(s), such as the number of cells or theconcentration of a protein in sample are shown in FIG. 7, in whichreplicates for each point, Q_(s, x) are indicated by the dark triangles.Each point, Q_(s, x), then, is an average of the replicates shown. Invarious embodiments of step 50 of method 100, a maximum and minimumvalue for bcCt for a sigmoidal curve may be determined, as depicted inFIG. 7. In various embodiments, second derivative data may be used todetermine a maximum and minimum point. For various embodiments, amaximum and minimum bcCt values may be obtained through extrapolation,and shown in FIG. 7. In various embodiments, after such values have beenobtained, a point on the curve at a bcCt value half way in between themaximum and minimum values of bcCt may be determined. For variousembodiments of step 50 of method 100, a data point close to a half waypoint on the curve may be selected. In the example shown in FIG. 7,Q_(s, x2) is a point close to the half way point on the curve. Accordingto various embodiments of step 50 of method 100, once a data point fromthe data set has been selected, at least one additional near-neighbordata point is selected, and a linear fit to the group of points selectedmay be done using any of a variety of linear regression algorithms. Forexample, in some embodiments of step 50 of method 100, in addition to aselected point, such as Q_(s, x2), a single point, such as either ofQ_(s, x1) and Q_(s, x3) may be selected. According to variousembodiments of step 50 of method 100, in addition to a selected point,such as Q_(s, x2), multiple points, such as Q_(s, x1) and Q_(s, x3) maybe selected.

In various embodiments of step 50 of method 100 of FIG. 1, the processmay iterate to include additional points. According to variousembodiments of step 60 of method 100, an evaluation of goodness of fitmay be done for every iteration of linear regression performed. In someembodiments, a calculated correlation coefficient may be used to assesswhether or not the selection of points is a good fit to a straight line.In various embodiments of step 50 of method 100, a goodness of fit maybe determined by the a priori evaluation of whether or not a new pointwould be a to a line. For such embodiments, the difference between thebcCt value for a data point and a bcCt value extrapolated to a linedetermined by regression analysis from that point may be determined, anda difference falling within the spread of the data points for that pointmay constitute an acceptable goodness of fit. For example, in FIG. 7,for the data point Q_(s, x4), the difference between the bcCt value forthat point on the graph, and for a bcCt value at that data point on theregression line is clearly out side of the spread of all the replicatesfor that point. For various embodiments of step 50 of method 100, pointat Q_(s, x4) would not be included as an additional point.

In FIG. 8, for various embodiments of step 50 of method 100 of FIG. 1,the determination of the linear range is depicted for the exemplarydetermination of OCT3/4 in NTERA-2 cell samples. As previouslydiscussed, it is clear from the inspection of the slopes of the lines inFIG. 8, that there is a significant deviation from a parallelorientation for these lines.

For various embodiments of methods for the analysis of PBA data, asindicated in step 60 of method 100 of FIG. 1, a threshold value for bcCtmay be selected. In various embodiments of step 60 of method 100, athreshold value may be selected based on the noise or variation in thedata. According to various embodiments, a factor between about 1.0 toabout 5.0 times Ct may be selected, as for various proximity bindingassays the noise is in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.5 times Ct. Forvarious embodiments of method 100 of FIG. 1, a threshold of betweenabout 0.5 bcCt to about 2.5 bcCt may be selected. According to variousembodiments, a user may select a value for threshold. In FIG. 9, forvarious embodiments of step 60 of method 100 of FIG. 1, the selection ofa threshold value of 2.0 bcCt is depicted for the exemplarydetermination of OCT3/4 in NTERA-2 cell samples.

After the selection of a threshold value, for various embodiments ofstep 70 of method 100 of FIG. 1, an x value at which the linear portionof PBA data reaches the threshold may be determined. For example, inFIG. 10, the determination of the x values are depicted for an exemplarydetermination of OCT3/4 in NTERA-2 cell samples, according to variousembodiments of a determination of a sample quantity. In FIG. 10, a valueof the x value may for be determined for OCT3/4 in NTERA-2 day 0 and day4 cell samples. For various embodiments of method 100 of FIG. 1, theextrapolation of the linear portion of the bcCt versus log₁₀, of samplequantity may be done to determine a value of sample quantity. Forexample, in FIG. 10, a log₁₀, value of 1.45 for OCT3/4 in the day 0sample and a log₁₀ value of 1.63 for the OCT3/4 in the day 4 sample maybe determined through extrapolation. From these logarithmic values, arelative quantitation, or the ratio of the day 4 to the day 0 values of28.18 and 42.65, respectively, yields a relative quantitation (RQ) valueof 0.66. It is clear from these data that OCT3/4 was downregulated inthe day 4 sample. Finally, as day 28, and the final day have such lowlevels of OCT3/4, an x-intercept value cannot be determined for thesesamples, and they are marked as shown in FIG. 10. These data aredisplayed graphically in FIG. 11.

Alternatively, according to various embodiments of step 70 of method 100of FIG. 1, a relative quantitation of the day 4 to the day 0 sample maybe calculated directly using Eq. 1. For example, by substituting all thevalues from the linear regression analysis given for day 4 and day 0, aswell as a bcCt_(th) value of 2 into Eq. 1, an RQ value of 1^(−0.18) isobtained, which is a value of the ratio of the concentrations forOCT3/4, or RQ, of 0.66. According to various embodiments of step 70 ofmethod 100 of FIG. 1, sample quantity may be, for example, but notlimited by, the number of cells in a sample, or the concentration of abiomolecules, such as a protein.

In FIG. 12, the results of a validation study for the determination ofthe OCT3/4 target protein in the NTERA-2 cells is shown, according tovarious embodiments of a method for the analysis of PBA data. In thisvalidation study, the NTERA-2 cell lysate was spiked in with a Raji celllysate, as shown in the table below:

TABLE 1 Sample Composition Relative NTERA2 Raji Quantitation Samplelysate Lysate Expected Result Test_50% 50% 50% 0.5 0.52 Test_10% 10% 90%0.1 0.12

For this study, a series of dilution were done as indicated in FIG. 12.PBA data was collected over a period of days on different instruments,so that the data analyzed include within day, day-to-day, as well asinstrument-to-instrument noise. As previously mentioned, one of ordinaryskill in the art of various bioanalyses using antigen-binding recognizesthat such bioanalyses may be impacted by matrix effects. In that regard,spiking the NTERA-2 cell lysate with the Raji cell lysate presents avalidation study in which quantitative recovery may be impacted bymatrix effects, as well as cross-reactivity, due to the presence ofproteins from the Raji cell lysate in the assay mixture. For thevalidation study presented in FIG. 12, as can be seen by the inspectionof Table 1, the results for the various dilutions validated the dataanalysis method for determining the expected results, reporting an RQ of52% for the 50% dilution sample, 12% for the 10% dilution sample, and“undetermined” for the unspiked control. As the 1% dilution wasadditionally below the limit of detection for the assay, it was alsoreported as “undetermined”.

According to various embodiments of method 100 of FIG. 1, a confidencevalue may be generated for the sample quantity determined in step 70.For various embodiments, a confidence value for a sample quantity may bederived from confidence bands constructed about the lines determinedusing linear regression, as depicted in FIG. 13.

For example, under an assumption of the normal distribution of the data,a confidence band about a regression line for the linear portion of acurve given by Eq. 1 may be given by:

$\begin{matrix}{{{C_{\alpha}(x)} = {{\hat{A}x} + {\hat{B} \pm {{\overset{\sim}{t}}_{{N - 2},{1 - {\alpha/2}}}\hat{\sigma}\sqrt{\frac{1}{N} + \frac{\left( {x - \overset{\_}{x}} \right)^{2}}{\sum\left( {x_{i} - \overset{\_}{x}} \right)^{2}}}}}}}{{{For}\mspace{14mu} {\overset{\sim}{t}}_{{N - 2},{1 - {\alpha/2^{\ni}}}}{\int_{- \infty}^{{\overset{\sim}{t}}_{{N - 2},{1 - {\alpha/2}}}}t_{N - 2}}} = {1 - {\alpha/2}}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 3}\end{matrix}$

-   -   where t_(N-2) is the t-distribution with N−2 degrees of freedom.

In reference to FIG. 13, and Eq. 2, the fold change for the comparisonof the quantity of sample in the test versus the reference is given by:

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 2}}}{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 1}}} = b^{\lbrack{({X_{R\; 2} - X_{T\; 2}}\rbrack}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 4}\end{matrix}$

-   -   Where:

${\frac{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 2}}}{\rho_{\rho,{s\; 1}}} = {Concentration}},$

-   -   ρ, of a protein, p, in samples, s2 and s1;    -   b=base of the exponential increase in signal amplification    -   s1=is a reference sample    -   s2=is a test sample    -   x_(R2)=is the input quantity at which the regression line of the        reference sample intersects the selected threshold    -   x_(T2)=is the input quantity at which the regression line of the        test sample intersects e selected threshold

Then, for various embodiments of determining a confidence valueaccording to various methods for the analysis of PBA data, a confidenceas depicted in FIG. 13, a confidence interval for the test sample may begiven as:

b^([(x) ^(R1) ^(−x) ^(T3) ^(]),b^([(x) ^(R3) ^(−x) ^(T1) ^(])  Eq. 5

Finally, according to various embodiments of methods for the analysis ofPBA data, as shown in step 80 of method 100 of FIG. 1, the PBA data maybe outputted to an user for making determinations of samples analyzedfor, for example, but not limited by, the up or down regulation of aprotein or proteins in a cell line, the concentration of a protein in abiological sample, the post-translational or synthetic modification of aprotein. For various embodiments of methods of the analysis of PBA data,an output may be a graph, as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. As previouslymentioned in the discussion of FIG. 8 and FIG. 4, various embodiments ofa computer system may be utilized to implement various embodiments ofstep 80 of method 100 of FIG. 1 for the presentation of data outputtedto a user for making determinations of samples using PBA data. Suchembodiments of a computer system, as mentioned in the discussion of FIG.8 and FIG. 4, may be utilized in the implementation of displaying,printing and otherwise conveying the presentation of PBA data to an enduser. Accordingly, though the presentation of data in FIG. 11 and FIG.12 is graphical, the presentation of PBA data may be in any usefulformat, for example, but not limited by, graphical, tabular, ornarrative, and combinations thereof.

While the principles of this invention have been described in connectionwith specific embodiments, it should be understood clearly that thesedescriptions are made only by way of example and are not intended tolimit the scope of the invention. What has been disclosed herein hasbeen provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit what is disclosed to theprecise forms described. Many modifications and variations will beapparent to the practitioner skilled in the art. What is disclosed waschosen and described in order to best explain the principles andpractical application of the disclosed embodiments of the art described,thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the variousembodiments and various modifications that are suited to the particularuse contemplated. It is intended that the scope of what is disclosed bedefined by the following claims and their equivalence.

1. A system for analyzing proximity binding assay data, comprising: athermal cycler instrument; and a processor in communication with thethermal cycler instrument that receives proximity binding assay data fora plurality of samples, wherein the proximity binding assay datacomprises at least one set of test sample data and at least one set ofreference sample data; determines cycle threshold (Ct) values for the atleast one set of test sample data and at least one set of referencesample data; calculates background corrected Ct values for each value inthe test sample data set and the reference sample data set with acorresponding value in a background data set; determines the linearrange for the background corrected Ct values as a function of samplequantity for each set of test sample data and reference sample data; andselects a background corrected Ct value as a threshold value; whereafter the steps of determining the linear range for each set of test andreference data, and selecting a corrected Ct threshold, a quantity for atarget molecule in the at least one test sample is determined.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a processor in communication withthe thermal cycler instrument that determines a confidence value for thequantity determined for the target molecule in the at least one testsample.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein background data set is anegative control in which the target molecule of the at least one testsample is absent.
 4. The system of claim 1, where the quantitydetermined for the target molecule in the at least one test sample isrelative.
 5. The system of claim 1, where the quantity determined forthe at least one test sample is quantitative.
 6. The system of claim 1,where the target molecule is a protein.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherethe at least one test sample is a cell sample.
 8. A method for analyzingproximity binding assay data, the method comprising: providing proximitybinding assay data for a plurality of samples, wherein the proximitybinding assay data comprises at least one set of test sample data and atleast one set of reference sample data; determining cycle threshold (Ct)values for the at least one set of test sample data and at least one setof reference sample data; calculating background corrected Ct values foreach value in the test sample data set and the reference sample data setwith a corresponding value in a background data set; determining thelinear range for the background corrected Ct values as a function ofsample quantity for each set of test sample data and reference sampledata; and selecting a background corrected Ct value as a thresholdvalue; where after the steps of determining the linear range for eachset of test and reference data, and selecting a corrected Ct threshold,a quantity for a target molecule in the at least one test sample isdetermined.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining aconfidence value for the quantity determined for the target molecule inthe at least one test sample.
 10. The method of claim 8, where thebackground data set is a negative control in which the target moleculeof the at least one test sample is absent.
 11. The method of claim 8,where the quantity determined for the target molecule in the at leastone test sample is relative.
 12. The method of claim 8, where thequantity determined for the at least one test sample is quantitative.13. The method of claim 8, where the target molecule is a protein. 14.The method of claim 8, where the at least one test sample is a cellsample.
 15. A computer-readable medium and computer-readable codeembodied on said computer-readable medium for analyzing proximity assaybinding data, the computer-readable code comprising: obtaining proximitybinding assay data for a plurality of samples, wherein the proximitybinding assay data comprises at least one set of test sample data and atleast one set of reference sample data; determining cycle threshold (Ct)values for the at least one set of test sample data and at least one setof reference sample data; calculating background corrected Ct values foreach value in the test sample data set and the reference sample data setwith a corresponding value in a background data set; determining thelinear range for the background corrected Ct values as a function ofsample quantity for each set of test sample data and reference sampledata; and selecting a background corrected Ct value as a thresholdvalue; where after the steps of determining the linear range for eachset of test and reference data, and selecting a corrected Ct threshold,a quantity for a target molecule in the at least one test sample isdetermined.
 16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, furthercomprising determining a confidence value for the quantity determinedfor the target molecule in the at least one test sample.
 17. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 15, where the background data set is anegative control in which the target molecule of the at least one testsample is absent.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherethe quantity determined for the target molecule in the at least one testsample is relative.
 19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherethe quantity determined for the at least one test sample isquantitative.
 20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, where thetarget molecule is a protein.
 21. (canceled)